There’s a high chance we see the first father and son duo in NBA history take the floor together as LeBron James and Anthony Davis both will make their preseason debuts for the Lakers.
The Lakers will continue their preseason stint against their Pacific Division rivals as they play the Phoenix Suns on Sunday. The purple and gold look to nab their first victory after losing to the Minnesota Timberwolves in the preseason opener.
Who: Los Angeles Lakers vs. Phoenix Suns
When: 6:30 p.m. PT, Oct 6
Where: Acrisure Arena, Palm Desert, CA
Watch: Spectrum SportsNet
There’s a lot to unpack from Friday’s preseason opener against the Wolves: the Lakers lost by 20 sans LeBron James and Anthony Davis, JJ Redick’s coached his first unofficial game, the four-guard lineup at one point, the timely timeouts by Redick, Max Christie and Dalton Knecht standing out, the fake comeback and the team’s putrid 3-point shooting.
That said, does any of it matter? Not really, but that doesn’t mean they’re not worth taking note of. White it’s difficult to fully assess a Lakers team without James and Davis — who both sat out the preseason opener — there can be takeaways from it.
And since the regular season is also right around the corner, the preseason is an opportunity to see the trends and habits that this team is building ahead of it.
With one meaningless game in the books, here are the actual noteworthy takeaways to remember from that one:
In my last preview, I wondered who would make an excellent first impression and it turned out to be none other than Christie. The third-year guard, who posted 11 points, seven rebounds, two assists on 5-9 shooting from the field, lived up to the praise that Redick and James had sung for him during training camp. Max looked prepared, in shape and ready to attack the upcoming season.
Now the question is, can Christie continue to impress against the Suns? If Devin Booker — who Christie considers as the toughest player to guard in the league — suits up on Sunday, it’ll be interesting to see how the 21-year-old matches up with the superstar.
If you told me that the rookie Dalton Knecht would lead the team in scoring along with Austin Reaves before Friday’s game, I wouldn’t be surprised. That’s how ready Knecht seems for professional basketball and he’s wasted no time making that known.
The rookie out of the University of Tennessee looked tremendously comfortable on the court last Friday and already seemed like one of the best role players on the team. It’s safe to assume that if Knecht builds on his latest performance, he will play significant minutes this season in one condition of course — he holds up on the defensive end.
And speaking of the defensive end, it was refreshing to watch a healthy Gabe Vincent out there who made his presence felt on both ends of the floor. The 6’3 guard contributed 11 points on 2-4 three-point shooting. He looks in shape and prepared to attack the upcoming season as well.
The first game of the preseason is when it’s acceptable to use rust as an excuse for the Lakers’ poor 3-point shooting (31.3%). Aside from their shooting woes, I think it’s fair not to panic yet about the fact that they just gave up 124 points to a Wolves team that shot 50% from the field and 40.5% from the 3-point line.
Remember, the players who saw minutes in the preseason opener, specifically Colin Castleton, Maxwell Lewis, Armel Traoré, Kylor Kelley and Quincy Olivari will likely not be part of the rotation come the regular season.
All that said, this doesn’t mean the Lakers should allow the Suns to do what the Wolves did to them last Friday. While wins are not really a priority in the preseason, the focus is to build good habits, build rhythm and momentum and even work on improvements that need to be made.
Let’s see if the Lakers can make some noteworthy progress against the Suns on Sunday.
You can follow Nicole on Twitter at @nicoleganglani.
